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Underdog Aggies face quality Ragin' Cajuns team on road

By Teddy Feinberg

tfeinberg@lcsun-news.com

@TeddyFeinberg on Twitter

Posted:
11/01/2013 06:15:39 PM MDT

LAS CRUCES - Throughout the college football season, first-year head coach Doug Martin has identified characteristics he would like his New Mexico State Aggie football team possess as his tenure at the school unfolds.

And this week's Aggie opponent, the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns, could very well be the perfect model for what the Aggies hope to become.

Offensively, the Ragin' Cajuns are a balanced outfit that runs the football at a high level (ranked 16th in the nation in rushing offense, averaging 229.3 yards per game on the ground). Of course, Louisiana-Lafayette has a quality quarterback in Terrance Broadway, who's thrown for 1,448 yards on the season, with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Defensively, the Ragin' Cajuns aren't the biggest of units, although the group's athletic and runs well. Louisiana-Lafayette has two defensive touchdowns this season (to go along with a kick-off return TD). And, while Martin has preached turnover margin throughout this season, the Ragin' Cajuns sit at plus-11 in that department (picking off five passes and recovering eight fumbles during the 2013 campaign).

From a competitive standpoint, Louisiana-Lafayette is a fellow mid-major program and a member of the Sun Belt Conference (which will be the Aggies home in 2014). In the program's third year under head coach Mark Hudspeth, the Ragin' Cajuns have won the New Orleans Bowl two consecutive seasons, and are one win away from postseason eligibility in 2013 (holding a 5-2 overall record, and a 3-0 mark in league play).

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A highlight in the program's media packet is titled 'Doing More With More,' a short feature on the construction of a $115 million Athletic Facility Master Plan. A 71,000 square-foot Athletic Performance Center will be constructed, which will aid all 16 of the Ragin' Cajuns sports and will include space for athletic training, equipment and two complete weight rooms. The facility will include a new football locker room, an auditorium and will house the football coaching staff.

"This week we've got a huge challenge at Lafayette. This is the best team in the Sun Belt Conference that we're going to play. I think there's a lot of parity in the Sun Belt, except for this team. I think they're head and shoulders above everybody else, talent-wise," Martin said. "I think what they've done facility-wise and what they're putting into their program, they've certainly made a great commitment. And it shows on the field. They're an excellent, excellent football team. So, we're going to have our work cut out for us."

The Ragin' Cajuns are 31-point favorites entering the contest and a primary concern - as it's been for much of the year - will be NMSU's effectiveness stopping the run.

Louisiana-Lafayette has a veteran running back in Alonzo Harris (106 carries, 549 yards and seven touchdowns) and an up-and-coming freshman in Elijah Mcguire (51 carries, 425 yards, four touchdowns). The 6-foot-2, 211-pound Broadway can also make things happen with his legs if the situation calls for it, gaining 222 yards and five touchdowns on the ground this season.
While Louisiana-Lafayette isn't particularly big along its offensive line - just one starter is listed over 300 pounds - it's an agile group, as the team looks to run the ball between the tackles.

"They have made the decision that their offensive line and their running backs are a strength. They make no bones about it," NMSU defensive coordinator David Elson said. "They are very methodical in what they do. They do a good job within their play, having some balance in terms of which way they go (in the running game)....But, at the end of the day, it is those five guys zone-blocking and getting movement and then those running backs finding creases."

Said defensive linemen Willie Mobley, "I think this is probably one of the more athletic O-line's that we're going to face this year. You think Louisiana-Lafayette, they probably have some pretty average offensive linemen. But they're pretty athletic. They got one good young back and their starting running back (Harris) is a big guy, around 220."

Coming into the year, there was concern about the Aggies ability to stop the run. At the beginning of the season the team was based out of a 3-4 defense that slants along the line of scrimmage, and thus far they've been susceptible in that area: NMSU ranks dead-last in the Football Bowl Subdivision in rush defense (325 yards per game), total defense (570 yards per game) and scoring defense (45 points per game).

"No. 1 is tackling, there's no question," Elson said when asked what areas he wants to see improve by season's end. "No. 2 is discipline of guys staying in their gap. Those are the two things that show up the most."

Said Mobley, "We practice playing gap-sound. I think some games, we do so well, do so well, we give up one. And then we stop them, stop them, and we give up (another)....we need to be more consistent."

Offensively, the Aggies are banged up, particularly in the backfield.

Freshman quarterback King Davis III will miss his second-straight game after suffering his second concussion of the season Oct. 19 against Rice. With that, senior Andrew McDonald will make his seventh start of the season Saturday.

At running back, leading rusher Brandon Betancourt will be out for the year after suffering a torn ligament in his left foot against Abilene Christian. Senior Germi Morrison, who ran hard last week against the Wildcats (28 carries for 146 yards), was also banged up in the contest. Offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon said Morrison didn't practice this week, while Martin added the senior's status for Saturday's game is questionable.

If Morrison can't in fact go, freshman Xavier Hall and former quarterback Travaughn Colwell could see their workload increase. Martin said senior Yolandus Pratt will also be taken on the trip as the Aggies third running back.

Brandon said the Aggies have ran the ball better in recent weeks, adding of Saturday's game, "We've got to play those guys and we've got to be creative in the run game, get some other guys involved."

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